Gary Ridgeway is also known as the Green River Killer for his horrific serial murders. What is perhaps one of the most disturbing part of Ridgeway’s murder is that they targeted young prostitutes and were clearly sexual in nature. Law enforcement has attempted to learn everything they can from the Green River Killer. In particular, instances from his childhood may have informed his later aggression, particularly toward women and sexuality. His mother was overbearing and intimidated Gary in childhood. He wet the bed into early adolescence and was often berated by his mother, who constantly spoke down to Gary, his father and his siblings. After wetting the bed, she often engaged in intense cleaning rituals while spurning him even further for his accidents and referring to his sexual organ as the “dirtiest” part. Similarly, both of Ridegway’s parents engaged him in conversations of a sexual nature. His father who worked in a mortuary would speak about necrophilia and his mother often dressed provocatively and told her young son about arousing other men. Shortly thereafter during his teenage years, Ridgeway because to exhibit many troublesome signs that we know today often precede violent crimes such as murder. He killed animals and started elicit fires. These acts of aggression were more important to him than school where he did not excel and felt even more estranged from his peers and classmates. This profile of his childhood has provided additional insight into what can make a serial killer in the first place.
While Ridgeway was married three times, his sex life was never “normal.” His first two wives reported that he was interested in bondage and, he frequented prostitutes during each of his marriages. As his anger against his mother grew, it manifested in violence against these prostitutes and countless instances of necrophilia. Ultimately, he pleaded guilty to murdering at least 48 women after DNA evidence identified him as the killer. Despite the violence and horror of these murders, authors of this particular article make the argument that society does not accurately condemn individuals who harm prostitutes. Many do not understand the reasons behind the life of prostitution as most women who engage in this lifestyle feel as if they have no choice and no other way to support themselves. When they experience violence from a man who has paid for their services, it is normalized, i.e. a prostitute begins to feel so devalued that any harm against them begins to feel deserved even though no human being deserves to be beaten or raped. Similarly, because many prostitutes do not want to face legal action themselves, they often do not report these instances of violence. In many ways the stigma associated with prostitution is one reason why men such as Ridgeway are not found out sooner, there are few willing to report men such as this to authorities.
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Like Ridgeway, many men who visit prostitutes use these encounters to feel empowered over women, often when there is some reason for them to have felt subjugated by women in the past. Also similar to Ridgeway, an overall negative view of women becomes a component of their violence. There are studies that support specific characteristics being more likely in sexual serial killers including: bed wetting, aggression towards animals/children, compulsive masturbation and childhood sexual/emotional abuse; however, it is not just about the environmental factors, it is also about how these individuals think about women and sexuality. For example, sexual serial killers tend to think women are uncontrollable as is the male sex drive. And, in the case of Ridgeway in particular, it is clear that he believed the world is an unsafe place and women are the biggest culprit. His life was essentially spent getting back at his mother and his sense of entitlement comes from a place of victimization.
- Levi-Minzi, Micol, and Maria Shields. “Serial sexual murderers and prostitutes as their victims: Difficulty profiling perpetrators and victim vulnerability as illustrated by the Green River case.” Brief Treatment and Crisis Intervention 7.1 (2007): 77.
